Cherry blossoms and war
by bludonut
Summary: Touya doesn’t want sakura to join the army, but she goes to war anyway , and lands herself in trouble within a few hours… chapter 4 is finally out
1. an angry sakura

**Cherry blossoms and war.** (do not mix)

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**Summary:** Touya doesn't want sakura to go to war, but she goes anyway, and lands herself in trouble within a few hours… read on faithful readers. 

**AN:** Hey all readers this is my first shot at fan fics so tell me wut you think… Is it too serious? Please dun flame me… had a hard enough time writing this…** plz plz plz plz REVIEW… **

0Enjoy0

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A kinomoto was not to be taken lightly, and right now one was fuming mad, pacing in her tent like a ferocious tigress ready to be let loose and devour her prey, and the object of her…negative attention was on a particular male, sitting directly across her with a disturbed expression on his face.

'Really, Sakura, is there a need for you to be hysterical, you are acting exactly like a kaiijuu, but then again you cant really expect much from a kaiijuu, they are really…' before he could continue with his speech and description of a kaiijuu, he was cut off short by a nice painful stomp on the foot rewarded by his unappreciative sister of his efforts of describing a kaiijuu.

He spent the next ten minutes nursing his sore foot and ego. Sakura however watched on with a scary and evil smirk on her face. After the preliminary courtesies, they went on to wreck more havoc in a puny tent. (I sorta pity that tent)

'Touya, I don't want to stay here, and be protected, while you, go off, and fight in the frontlines of war, can't you see, I'm not a child anymore, I have to be able to make my own decisions sometime. Look, even if I stay here, I won't be happy, sitting ensconced in a miserable tent, while you are out there, exposed to danger, at least let me sign up as a healer.

A healer that actually heals people, not one that sits in a tent, and gets treated like a princess.' Sakura said glaring indignantly, pointing out what happened the last time, she had tried to sign up as a healer, and her brother had found out.

He had forcibly locked her up in a huge tent, together with a couple of simpering princesses, and refused to let her go out, and help the wounded, who were gossiping about fashion, hair, and clothes, when there was a war waging on outside, and people were getting killed, she had almost lost control, punched their beautifully powdered faces.

By the end of it all, she was glad to see the last of those princesses, who commented on her dressing, and, I quote, 'should wear more feminine clothes, that would appeal to the masculine tastes, but a low commoner like you, would only be able to hook up some lousy third grade man.' Ugghh, I wanted to stick a dagger through their hearts, such repulsive creatures, who were actually called …princesses? As far as I could see, I could see nothing queenly, or princsessy in them.

Touya stared at me intently for several seconds, making me squirm uncomfortably under his piercing gaze, he was known for being the most serious commander in the army, and his soldiers made jokes about him, calling him, 'Touya the terror' , but in his presence, they dared not utter a word against him, or his orders.

However, the Touya I knew was a kind, if not overprotective brother, who would still quarrel childishly with me, I had never seen the 'commander' side of him.

'All right then, if you really want to go to the battlefield so much, I'm not stopping you. You're old enough to witness these things. Old enough to witness the things that men do to one another to achieve their own ends. I don't care what you're signing up for, be it a soldier, healer, or cook, or burier. Do not expect me to show you favoritism, and you are not to address me as Touya, or brother, but to call me commander. I will brief you on your proper behavior later.' With these words, he left the tent abruptly.

Still reeling from his sudden change in attitude, I couldn't understand what had happened to him; he suddenly turned so cold, and his attitude, seemed al most nonchalant, as if not caring whether I died in the battle or not. He acted like a stranger to me. As I stood up, and went back to my own tent, it suddenly hit me, why his behavior seemed so familiar.

He had also acted like this once, long ago when he was dating kaho, and she said she was leaving to another kingdom, to help the orphans there, and pursue her career, Touya, had suddenly become this cold, rejecting her, and on the day she set out to that foreign kingdom, he turned his face away, and broke up with her, at that time, I had not understood his strange, and incomprehensible actions.

But I figured out after a while, that he was afraid to lose kaho, afraid to get hurt, if anything should happen to her, he would never be able to face himself, for not stopping her, for letting her go, so he simply pushed her away, bracing himself for the blow, if it were to come, he would be prepared, if was informed of kaho's death, or perhaps her marriage to another man, and after that, he would be able to go on with life. Except, now, it was her, who was being ignored by Touya.

The following days were torturous, Touya absolutely refused to have a friendly conversation with her, and at times ignored her presence completely, and treated her with contempt. Still, she endured it all, as she knew that her brother, was angry, and distancing himself from her, besides, she knew he would soon suffer the shock of his life soon.

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Author's note: Hahahhaahahah 0O00oOoo cliffy. what exactly is going to shock Touya? Alright readers, if you liked it, review, because I'm not gonna post the next chapter till I get **Reviews! Reviews**!** Reviews**!** Reviews**!** Reviews**! sheesh, I need some inspiration, people! 

**Oh and btw, I do not own ccs! Though I wish I did. Sniffs**

FLAMES SHALL BE IGNORED, constructive criticism considered.


	2. leaving

**Title: .**cherry blossoms and war (do not mix)

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**Chapter 2: leaving…**

Author's Note: Hey all readers tell me what you think… Is it too serious? Please dun flame me…sorry for taking so long to update, it's my exam period you see, I'm actually supposed to be studying bio now…I had a hard enough time writing this…** plz plz plz plz REVIEW…

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**

0Enjoy0

'We are reporting to camp tomorrow, so prepare your things, sakura kinomoto.' Touya told his sister, before looking back down to his food again.

Looking up at his stone cold face, she stuttered, as she told Touya the news.

'Gomen onii-chan, I-I signed up as a soldier.' Sakura told Touya hesitantly. She knew she would have to tell Touya soon, that she signed up, not as a healer, but a soldier, and it was no use postponing the inevitable news any longer.

She saw him freeze. His chopsticks on the way to his mouth, suddenly stop in mid-air, as the tension in the room thickened. Sakura bit her lip, as she waited for touya's furious outburst.

It never came; he simply put the pair of chopsticks down on the table, and...

I was already bracing myself for the scolding-to-be, or rather tantrums-screams-havoc-and total annihilation of the tent- to-be. Yup, that would have described things more accurately.

But instead of it, I heard him say in a firm voice,

'so be it.' before walking away from the table.

As I looked at his silhouette, as he walked further and further away from the tent, I heaved a sigh of relief, at the unexpected outcome, but somehow, this quiet acceptance, made me more afraid, afraid of what his silence meant. Even more afraid of my rash decision to be a lone female soldier among males. But the hectic of the next few hours, erased all thoughts from my mind.

There was still so much to prepare, I had to make sure, I walked like a boy, talked like a boy, acted like a boy, and looked like a boy, well… that was the hard part, actually, I had to find something to bind her breasts, and cut her waist long auburn hair, which was the easier part but after that she secretly kept a lock of hair, in the heart shaped locket around her neck, a good luck charm that was given to her by her mother, when she was only a child.

…

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The day arrived all too quickly, with Touya still talking no more than necessary to me, and as I said, we arrived all too quickly at the camp.

My first impression was the smell, the second, the enormity of it all. There were all sorts of people there, and everything, though was so… diverse. From helmets scattering the floor, to javelins, swords, bows, tents pitched all over the place, though there was a pattern, but I had not yet learnt how to distinguish it, dogs, cats running amok, even children were slipping in and between the pitched tents.

With all that, came the noise, the hustle and bustle of everything, the screams shouts, laughter, and crude jokes of the soldiers. I was still wondering how they managed to gather so many people in one place, before touya's cold, disconcerting voice broke through my thoughts.

'You go that way trainee, all untrained soldiers sign up there, and you will train as the camp moves. Hopefully, you will be able to fight your first battle in a month, and not die before that.'

'Ano...touya' but when I turned around, Touya, had already disappeared into the huge crowds.

'Sayonara.' I whispered to the air, as Touya was nowhere to be seen anymore.

I headed in the direction Touya had pointed, nearly tripping over a cat, as I got there, I lined up patiently behind a group of untrained young men, some of who were joking and laughing, others looked pale, and nervous, while some others talked quietly amongst themselves. Though generally, there was a festive atmosphere.

'Ahh g-ggo-men n-nasai!' she heard someone stammer before my face hit dirt. Turning around, I saw some boy lying atop her, and started swearing at him for him to get off her. The boy immediately scrambled up, and apologized, looking flustered, the boy was blushing madly, looking behind him; she saw a group of guys smirking at the boy.

'You losers stay in a group, don't come and bother us, trainees, you're not even fit to wipe my boots.' One guy from the bunch stepped out, and sneered at the boy who had fallen down

'Now you'll think twice before messing with us, boy.' The boy was now looking up at them, with what you could call fear on his face. He was backing away rapidly, before he tripped and fell over a random dagger lying on the ground. This only caused the group of bullies, to burst into raucous laughter.

Suddenly, I felt nauseous the stress of acting like a boy, for the next few months, was settling down onto me, and dragging me down, and I realized what an extremely brainless idea it was. The sun was not only hot, the air was also so thick, and suffocating, that I felt a bit faint, and very very irritated, not to mention, it was that time of the month, and I obviously felt snappish, and pissed off. That was when I decided to do something incredibly stupid.

'period.'

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**Author's note**: O wow! What exactly is the 'stupid thing', that sakura's doing, if you'd like to know…review! Yay 2 nd chapter is out. but i still Stays in a corner, sobbing and depressed, I only have 1 review…. Cries again, **Please** **Review review review begs again with huge anime puppy-dog eyes **

**Disclaimer**: I do not own ccs. Cause if I did, I would not be writing this disclaimer thingy. Definitely.

Kudos to

Rukz

For reviewing out of the 18 hits. Sighs, seems like I can only sit in fromnt of the computer and dream…

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**Plzplzlzplz** **Review review review Review review review…**


	3. fight

**Title: .**cherry blossoms and war (do not mix). 

**Chapter 2: fight.**

**Author's Note**: Hey all readers this is my first shot at fan fics so tell me wut you think… Is it too serious? Please dun flame me…sorry for taking so long to update, so sorry, as I decided to take MY imaginary puppet for a walk, and lost it somewhere in the museums, as I was eating my ice cream, and didn't realize I had dumped it in with the ice cream guy, so I had to go all the way back to find it. Yep, and that took me a whole lot of time, like 2 weeks… (for all who do not know _imaginary_ _puppet_, visit my brilliantly, insane profile page bwahahaha),

tries to run away, as readers throws rotten fruits and stuff at me, screaming I don't care if you're looking for that retarded puppet, you still have to update!…

sits in a corner crying, devastated at the lack of sympathy received for losing my imaginary puppet.

I had a hard enough time writing this…** so plz plz plz plz REVIEW… **

**Discslaimer**: do I still have to write it? I'm distraught enough over the prolonged loss of my imaginary puppet, I can't withstand another blow… sighs, it seems I still have to say those hateful words… ccs does not belong to me, k?

0Enjoy0

'SHOVE OVER, can't you see you're are standing right in the middle of the queue, and you are not only blocking my path, but also slowing the whole queue down. . Sheesh, don't you have any common sense? It's quite obvious that you're nothing more than thugs, who've come to throw their weight around, take your fun elsewhere, we're bored already.' I said, finally completing my whole speech.

The look on their faces was priceless, but what came after that…, well you could say I could do without.

'You looking for a fight boy?' one of them sneered, by then their faces were so red, that it seemed like their veins were popping out of their necks. It was a comical sight, but a dangerous one, as they advanced on me.

Strangely, I felt no fear, they were only cowards, who could only bully, but I knew that in terms of weight and size, I would lose out. But I had agility they didn't posses, and I stepped out of the queue hesitantly, by now all eyes were upon me, I could feel their excitement, that a brawl was about to erupt.

Moving back slowly, I realized that the boy had crawled off to another corner, and had hid himself somewhere, but I couldn't care less about that now, I had to focus. 'okay, sakura, assess the situation calm down girl, okay so, let's see, 1) they have weapons, you don't, _great_ 2) they are bigger, stronger, and probably been fighting more than you have, but you're smaller, so you probably more agile 3) you made them mad, and made them embarrassed in front of a whole group of new trainees, they're probably gonna hate you forever. Conclusion: very promising, haha and a great way to start my training (note: heavy sarcasm).'

As I continued stepping back, my heel hit something hard, as I turned around to look; I realized it was incidentally, the dagger the boy had tripped over just now.

Still maintaining eye contact, and a mocking smile, I bent down slowly, and picked up the dagger

'OoOoh, sissy boy's getting serious, we are sooo scared eh' it was quite obvious from the nasty smiles from their faces that they were going to lynch me. Fine. But not without me putting up a fight at least.

They advanced slowly, and I went into a half crouch attack position, and as they continued moving nearer uttering threats, I could hear the crowd getting agitated, the whisperings became more intense, and a general unease, had settled over that portion of the camp, with me being the centre of things. Some people even went as far as to cheer them on, saying 'teach that boy a lesson, show him who's boss.' I winced involuntarily when I heard that, it sounded so corny. Shit. That just gave them more reason to beat me up. Seriously, this was NOT my day.

Sighing, I tried to focus on the fight, and tried to use all that Touya had taught me over the years. _'take the enemy by surprise' _I leapt forward, my arms in a defensive mode, with my feet flying towards one of the guy's face. _'don't think of it as a whole group, take them down one by one'_ I targeted one guy, with droopy eyes, and a mean mouth. Who looked half asleep. I jabbed him with my elbow in the stomach, and brought the dagger slashing down on his face, I could smell whiskey on his breath. Eew, that totally stank. simultaneously a trickle of crimson blood appeared there, _'make unpredictable moves'_ caught off guard, his balance was a bit off, I took the opportunity to sweep his feet from under him, grunting as I did so as he was pretty heavy.

'Thump'

He fell onto the floor, stunned, surprised, and angry, very very angry.

But I knew that I was only lucky, and that it had been a fluke, for goodness sake, that man was half drunk, also I had the element of surprise.

By now, the rest of his buddies, were now looking at me, with their jaws hanging down, and one of them rubbed their eyes, to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The audience, were silent, in astonishment.

Soon, the bullies looks turned menacing, the expressions on their faces said they would make sure I died a humiliating, public, and embarrassing death. By now, the tension in the air was so solid, and thick, that you could've cut it out, and served it on a plate. It had now become a fight for pride, beat that boy, until he's got no spirit left, if not your reputation, is officially -over.

They were approaching again. Everyone, and everything seemed to freeze, and the whole world seemed to narrow down to just us.

But the sound of boots, clicking made us pause in our steps; we looked up, revealing the youngest commander ever, 3 rd commander, Eriol Hiiragizawa, stepped into sight.

Author's note: ok, I have finally reached the end of chapter 3, and I have finally found my imaginary puppet. Grins, as I hug imaginary puppet in a suffocating hug, and

_imaginary puppet_ -help save me from this insane girl trying to drive me to commit suicide…

_me_ -grins and laughs evilly, as I drag imaginary puppet away.

Finally

**Kudos to**

- rukz

- f-zelda

- Ani B.

-YOU-KNOW-WHO

-dbzgtfan2004

For **reviewing** faithfully, arigato:)

**Plzplzlzplz** **Review review review Review review review… **continues in an incoherent ramble


	4. no way

**Author's Note**: Heys, it's our exam period now, so we are all working hard typing furiously away, and studying madly, haha minus the studying madly part. I can't believe how slack I've gotten, that's beside the point, so on with the story, haha.

**Discslaimer**: ccs belongs to me. I wish.

0Enjoy0

**_Eriol's POV_**

_Why was it my shift again? I thought I had done it, last week, why was I doing it again; it must be that lying two-faced Yamazaki's fault again, he must have done this on purpose. Somehow switching the schedules, he will be so dead the next time I see him. _

It was once again eriol's turn to patrol the camp, making sure no trouble was being caused anywhere in the camp.

We stared at him, for a while, before he grinned affably at us, and continued walking towards us. Wherever he passed by, there were mutterings of 'good day commander', and lowered heads. As he made his way towards us, the gazes of the other group, fell to the floor, as did mine. I could see his well polished boots stop in front of me.

Not daring to look up, if not I would have still seen the smile still on his face, though his cerulean blue eyes, were flashing dangerously.

He put a hand on my shoulder and said 'hey boy, you're in the wrong queue, this is for the untrained. The queue for the trained soldiers, is over there, let me bring you there.'

'ummn, but sir, I am untrained.' I replied, as respectfully as I could.

'Nonsense, you have obviously been trained, come on, take your things and come this way.' He said.

Before I could protest, he turned around to walk away, motioning for me to follow him. I could only grab my things, and follow behind him.

After we had gotten quite far away from the registration area, I had to constantly jog a bit to keep up, with his long strides.

'I'm so dead now, why in the name of kamisama, did I suddenly decide to pick a fight, now they'll probably send me home, if not worse, run me through a stake, and use me and dispose my body in some unnamed place. I shuddered involuntarily, as I remembered the grisly tales I had heard from Touya, regarding people who had gotten on the wrong side of the generals. Or, maybe, if they discovered I was a girl, and decided to kill me, I would never hear the last of it from Touya. Oh, wait scratch that, Touya wasn't even talking to me now, right my life is just peachy.'

Stopping at a relatively deserted area, he ushered me into a tent. _'Oh my god, are they gonna kill me here, and then quietly dispose of my body without anyone knowing.'_ It was relatively dark inside, and it took me a while to get used to the dim interior, but when my eyes adjusted, I saw it was furnished quite sparsely, he gestured for me to sit down, as he took a seat opposite me.

I sat down reluctantly, wondering if they had inserted poison needles into the cushion. 'Excuse me, but I thought we were going to the registration booth, for the trained soldiers, why did you bring me here?' by now I was utterly convinced I was going to be executed, and was looking frantically for all possible exits in the tent. Well, there was only one, but a girl could hope, couldn't she.

A servant served us tea, without him prompting, and I stared nervously at the cup, wondering for the hundredth time, if it had been poisoned, or drugged, and was shifting nervously around in my kneeling position.

'You must be wondering why I brought you here, soldier.' He stated, that same pleasant smile still playing on his face, but it was beginning to freak me out now, especially since his eyes were unreadable, and so…blue.

'_Yeah right, I know, you want to kill me.' I thought silently_

But out loud, I pretended to be puzzled, feigning an innocent face, saying 'yes, commander.'

'I suppose ignorance is only natural, but that little performance you put on just now convinced me you had the potential to be one of them.' He said, pausing slightly, as if looking at my reaction.

'_Them…? Oh I know you mean those people who did something wrong, and are currently corpses now, right got it.' I thought sarcastically to myself. _

Outwardly, I still maintained the puzzled face, but my fear was starting to show.

As if guessing my thoughts, he replied, chuckling slightly 'no, I did not bring you here to kill you, boy you can have my word on that. Besides, we are not as terrifying as the soldiers make us out to be.'

Looking at him, I could only think how screwed his sense of humor was.

'You must be wondering by now who _them_ is, they are, well, how should I phrase it, let's see, they are extraordinary soldiers, whose performance have been so unexpected, that we gathered a group of them, and trained them to become elite assassins, to service the king, and help eliminate all possible threats to the country, and I would like to welcome you into their ranks.' He said, his piercing gaze, still on me.

Looking at him, skeptically, I was beginning to wonder if, he had lost his mind, if not being in this weird place was definitely affecting my sense of hearing. I stood up to bow, and leave but was stopped by a dagger at my throat, wielded by the maid who had served us tea earlier, her voice was clear and calm

'please sit down, soldier, lord Eriol wishes for you to stay.'

I sat down unnerved, with the knowledge that my life could be taken any minute, in this tent, as I heard him say in a soothing tone

'don't get so worked up now, midori.'

Turning to me, 'I hope midori didn't scare you. Well, since you decided not to leave, and hear me through, yes as I was saying, you have the potential, to become one of the assassins, you will go through a series of activities, that will challenge you both physically, and mentally, and a number of situations, for us to judge, whether you are suitable or not, though it is up to you, whether you want to accept this offer or not.

Pausing to take a sip of the tea, he continued pleasantly 'however if you do not, you of course will not be able to step out... unscathed.' He concluded, with a smile, as if we were exchanging small talk, his smile, though still agreeable, seriously freaked me out now.

'But…but you promised my safe return.' I stuttered, shocked.

…

ok, I have finally reached the end of chapter 4. and am currently delirious.

**AN:** So much happened that I wasn't able to update regularly, even though I was determined to update as soon as possible, I succumbed to the lures of internet, and heavenly food like ice cream and sushi, and ramen, and chocolates and all things yummy. So instead of typing away industrially as I should, I was sitting around doing one of the things as mentioned above. Sad. I know, but that's the way life is. We are all wewak. The mind is willing, but the body is weak, or something like that. **Anyways**…

Finally

**Many thanks to**

- rukz  
- Ani B.

For **reviewing** faithfully, arigato!

**Plzplzlzplz** **Review review review Review review review… **continues in an incoherent ramble


	5. alone

**Author's Note**: exams are over, and I can finally resume my love affair with the computer, and all things related to anime and manga again. Thus I am now updating, and going absolutely ballistic, glued to _'sugar and spice and everything nice' _oops, that was power puff girls, haveta cut down on the tv intake, and increase the no. of hours I am actually watching something useful other than useless cartoons, that repeat themselves over and over again… something productive, like rurouni kenshin, and full moon wo sagashite, and tsubasa chronicles and d gray man….yeah…. rambles on about the wonders of anime and manga.

**Discslaimer**: ccs belongs to me… (Do you think CLAMP would give me its rights, if I sent a petition letter?) Fine, it doesn't… for now…

0Enjoy0

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'Yes, but that was before you knew about _them_, soldier.' He replied evenly.

Looking at him incredulously, I could only wonder what kind of twisted and unreasonable man lay behind this beautiful face, and even then, this face was my object of hatred now. 'So, it was all a lie, then, I was never given a choice, it's either this or I….'

'well, to phrase it so crudely, yes, however I would like to remind you that the pay you will be receiving will be…beyond your imagination, let's take 500 gold pieces a month, for starters, as you move up, your pay, will naturally increase, that is of course, if you do survive the training.' He replied, still smiling.

Laughing bitterly, I said 'I don't care how high the pay is; I'm not staying here. No one tells me what to do. I came here to experience freedom, not to be stuck working as a random assassin. I didn't ask to be recruited.'

'That's too bad, but you are staying my dear new recruit, or should I say, kinomoto sakura, sister to Touya kinomoto.' He said smugly

Still glaring at him, I froze 'well, since you do know already, why should I stay here, I should just head off for home, and be a meek little lady then.' I replied sarcastically.

'Oh, well you see, there's just this little problem here, firstly women are not allowed into armies, as soldiers, and they are very strict about this rule, and if you may note this rule has never been violated. if they are found out, well, your dear brother Touya, will lose his job, and be dismissed in shame, in the view that he is unable to control his little sister, much less an entire army, which would seriously make everyone embarrassed, and of course be the talk of the army, for at least many months to come, or he might even be banished in worst case scenarios, so I suggest you just be a nice and obedient little girl, and join us, it's not that bad, really, that is, if you do survive the first month, sakura.'

I tilted my face down, so my bangs would cover my eyes, making it difficult for him to read my emotions, but that didn't really work, as bitterness, scorn, and hate laced my every word 'you really don't hesitate to manipulate, everyone, and I should suspect, even your allies, as long as it reaps some kind of benefit to you, isn't it right 3 rd commander, eriol Hiiragizawa.'

There was a pause for a moment, as his voice cut through the atmosphere, cold, biting, harsh, it had definitely changed from a mocking tone, to something colder, like a small ship coming up against a glacier, destined to lose, to sink, to die.(sounds like titanic… but titanic wasn't invented back then)

'Don't think you can understand me so well in our first meeting, little girl.' His voice was cold, and hard.

His eyes were flint hard, and I flinched, as I raised my eyes to his, I could only turn away, and lower my eyes, unable to meet the challenge written there.

I heard the rustling of his loose robes, as he stood up, and left the tent, pausing midway, as he whispered something to a maid. When I was certain that he had finally left, I collapsed onto the cushion I was sitting on, unable to hold back the overflowing emotions anymore, as I felt something hot pricking at the back of my eyes, I knew that I was about to cry, I forced them back down, yet a tear still escaped, but I wiped it away before it completed its course down my cheek.

How could something so simple turn so wrong, I had only wanted to get out of the safe haven that Touya had locked me in, how had I gotten myself into trouble so quickly, and this time, Touya was not able to save me, I knew that I would never get out of this place so easily, and as far as I could see the 'training' would not be pleasant at all.

I had read up enough to know, that an assassin, was a lifelong commitment, and they were sworn to do their master's bidding, until they were released by their master, or ran away by themselves, and became fugitives, there was no escape, for me this time around. I was totally screwed.

For the first time in my life, I felt truly alone, this sensation only overpowered my homesickness, and I felt myself going dangerously near the point of hysteric sobbing. With a will power, I never knew existed, I pulled myself together, and quashed all thoughts and regrets, trying to keep my composure.

Lifting my head up, I tried to scrutinize my surroundings clearly and calmly. But before I could do anything, the maid from before, bowed formally before me, and said 'this way please, miss.'

I could only stand up and follow her, still wondering what was to come after this.

'Miss, from now on, you will stay in these quarters,' she said, stopping in front of an ordinary brown tent.

She continued, 'My name is midori, and I'll be protecting you and escorting you personally to each training session. Your basic needs will be provided for here; I will inform you of all mealtimes, you will wake up at six every morning, and sleep at eleven every night, your training starts tomorrow, If you have anything else , or further queries, please approach me.'

Saying thus, she sat outside of my tent, as I entered it, 'so, she'll be protecting me, more like guarding me, and making sure I don't make a run for it at night, it'll be quite useless anyway, seeing the security around here. ', I thought silently.

The tent was simple, and private, with a matress at one corner, and some foldable drawers and a table with cushions at another. I turned around, slightly surprised, as another maid carried my luggage in. I had almost forgotten about it. The maid bowed slightly, and left.

I opened a bag, and started to pack my things away in the drawers. But as I was unpacking, a piece of small paper parchment fell out, looking at it curiously, I wondered how it had gotten there, as I picked it up, and read it.

It was written in touya's untidy, impatient scrawl.

_Take care kaiijuu, don't get caught. Tell me, if you're bullied, I'll beat up that bastard for you. _

_Touya._

It was just so typically Touya, looking out for me at every juncture of my life, feeding my suitors with death threats on a daily basis, playing pranks together with his little sister at stuffy boring meetings, bailing me out whenever I got myself into another of my messes, it was a wonder he was not already sick of me.

The tone was also so different from that which he had used on me in the last few days; it now seemed so far away, like it happened to another girl in another life. Touya's note, just reminded me so strongly of home, and all that I had lost.

I now knew that behind that seemingly cold and unfeeling mask was a brother who was worried, and anxious for his rash and hot-headed sister.

I felt the tears that I had tried to ignore, and repress, now come pouring out in a flood, washing me away in its intensity, it started, with soft muffled sniveling, I didn't want anyone to know that I was just a scared, lonely girl inside, who still needed her brother's constant encouragements, and shoulder to cry on, and I let my tears become loud racking sobs.

I put the piece of paper down gently as I was smearing the ink and the words grabbing a pillow, and cried long and hard. It seemed like an eternity, before sleep finally claimed me, and I drifted off into a thankfully quiet uneventful sleep.

* * *

**Author's note**: WHOOPEE chapter 5 is done and over, and everyone is happy, right? Wrong. Cos, I haven't been updating recently, and candy is bugging me to do it, and since she has just updated, I am finally feeling the guilt attacks, and am thus updating. Besides, so much has happened, and I am still worrying over whether I should evacuate my locker today or on the last day of school, cos it's falling apart with the amount of books squished in it. But, who cares, as long as I have my precious sweets and marshmallows, and computer, bed and tv. Suteki da ne? (isn't it beautiful?), to have life's most rewarding and entertaining things all concised into a house.

sniffs I'm just sooo touched

Finally

**Many thanks to all who reviewed**

**arigato gozimasu!**


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